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Have you been thinking about creating a t-shirt with the Merch by Amazon program? In case you hadn’t heard, Merch by Amazon is Amazon’s new print-on-demand t-shirt service where you get to design a t-shirt and collect royalties from the sales on your very own Amazon.com page. (learn more here).

I know several developers who, after waiting for months to get their Merch by Amazon account, still haven’t made a shirt yet. Hey. There’s no shame in this; it took me a while too. The thing is, we’re developers, not t-shirt designers. It’s okay if we need a bit of guidance to get started. So let me share what I’ve learned from the pretty-smart marketing folks on the Merch team!

So What T-Shirt Should You Make?

If you have been thinking about it, but are stuck on what shirt or shirts to make, think about making shirts that can increase player engagement or satisfy your fans desire to recognize important achievements.

Increase Customer Engagement

Shirts that increase customer engagement are those that represent something the player can relate to. These are typically avatars, environments, events or items that a customer might use or encounter frequently while playing. Examples include: Nom Nom from Cut the Rope, or a building from Monument Valley.

Recognize Important Achievements

Shirts that recognize important achievements are like the shirts that finishers of a marathon might get. You’ve accomplished something big, and you want to commemorate that and maybe even show off a bit! An example of a shirt representing an achievement could be a Boss death at the end of a hard level with text “I beat the Boss on Level 20!” or other such text.

Here are some other ideas of artistic elements in a game that can support player engagement or commemorate player achievements:

Player Avatar(s)

Key Adversaries/Allies/Characters

Attractive Screenscapes (as long as they are Iconic, like Monument Valley)

Rare treasure, arms or armor

Unique skins or badges the player has earned

If your app isn’t a game, you can still apply the same principal. Find those key moments that help define the value your app provides to the customer, and represent that on a shirt. For a charity, a picture of a happy, healthy beneficiary or outcome is good. For a productivity tool, a representation of time/effort/money saved might be appropriate with text to the order of: “I saved this!” or “I made this!”

I’ve Chosen an Image, Now What?

If you’re like I was when I made my first shirt, you might be overthinking “One-sided or two-sided? Design on the front or back?” Unless you’re certain of what you want, go with what works in the market. Make a single-sided t-shirt and put the image on the front. Colors? Use colors that contrast nicely with the image you’ve chosen. You don’t have to pick 5 colors, we see the best conversion with 3 color choices. If your shirt only looks amazing in one color, pick one color. That’s all okay.

What’s not okay is missing out on the revenue and promotional opportunity of having a Merch by Amazon account! The important thing is to follow the guidance above, and get your shirt up on your very own Amazon.com page today. Your fans are waiting!

Get Started With Merch by Amazon

Create your custom t-shirt and have it available for sale worldwide in just a few hours. Here is what you need to get started: